On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Osoyoos-Larose Release and Tasting ... February 3, 2009

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

In his opening remarks, Antoine Merlaut (managing director of Group Taillan) said, “When I pour this wine for people they say ‘I didn’t know Canada made wine’ or the more knowledgeable know about icewine ... I will be happy when Canada is known as a wine producing country all over the world.”  With that he thanked the crowd and took his seat at the 5th vintage release / 10th Anniversary of Osoyoos Larose – a partnership between Vincor Canada and Groupe Taillan of Bordeaux.  From humble beginnings in 1998, their first vintage of 3700 6-bottle cases in 2001 (released spring 2004) to the now 20,000 cases of the 2005 Grand Vin (released last year in B.C. – February 28 in Vintages in Ontario) and 8000 cases of the second label Petales d’Osoyoos (available on consignment), Osoyoos-Larose has made quite a name for itself.  Last year they showed up to launch the 2004 vintage – if you wish to read further background from my previous story click here.

We were informed that Osoyoos-Larose had just beat out Opus One in a recent tasting in Japan, where the wine fetches $120USD – which makes our $50 a bottle price tag seem like a real bargain.  Of course this is significantly less than what a bottle of Opus One will set you back in either country.  O-L is now sold in five countries (Canada, France, U.K., U.S. and Japan) with the majority sold in Canada (85%).

Some interesting pieces of info came from the presentation this year – and not just the numbers - the principals behind the wines Alain Sutre (Technical Project Manager) and Pascal Madevon (Winemaker and vineyard manager) were quite candid with their remarks ... (Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.

Report from - Australian Tastings: Masterclass - January 29 ... Consumer Show January 30, 2009

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

Welcome to Australia, home of some of the best wines in the world, the oldest plantings of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre, and to some of the world’s biggest misconceptions. As the Australian’s market share falls for the first time in almost a decade, the Australians came to town hoping to prop up their wines by letting everyone know: “we are more than those drink now critter wines we have become known for.” That Australia is about regionality and not just a general country designation; you should be able to say I like Margaret River Cabs and not just Australian Cabs. And finally, Australia wanted to inform us that they are vacating the “low end” part of the market, “the Chileans and Argentineans are doing a better job down there anyway.”

But enough of the baffle-gab, what did the wines have to offer and are they worth the money? I sat down during a “Masterclass” where 20 wines were poured and discussed, with another handful served with food later on … the following evening I found myself at the Consumer Show where I tried a few more worthy wines... (Read more)

 To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.